Stuffed Sicilian Bread Recipes

SCACCE RAGUSANE (SICILIAN STUFFED FLATBREAD)

Steps:

• Pour 1/3 cup warm water into a mixing bowl and sprinkle yeast over the top. Let stand for 10 to 15 minutes to make sure yeast is active.
• Add olive oil, semolina flour, and salt to the yeast mixture. Mix with your hand to form a relatively stiff ball of dough, adding more water if needed to bring the dough together.
• Transfer dough to a work surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes. Cover with the mixing bowl and let rest for 30 minutes.
• Uncover and knead the dough for another 3 or 4 minutes; divide dough into 2 portions, and shape each into smooth balls. Use damp hands to help smooth the dough out, if needed.
• Generously dust half of a kitchen towel with semolina flour and place the 2 balls of dough on top. Sprinkle more flour on top of the balls and cover with the other half of the towel. Leave to rise until the dough has almost doubled in size, about 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with foil and sprinkle with cornmeal.
• Roll each ball of dough out into a very thin circle or oval shape on a lightly floured surface.
• Combine pizza sauce and basil in a bowl. Spread with a thin layer of sauce and scatter pieces of provolone cheese every few inches, leaving a 1 inch border. Fold over the opposite edges toward the middle to form a rectangle. Press lightly to flatten slightly. Repeat sauce and cheese step.
• Fold each end toward the center to make a square shape. Spread with a thin layer of sauce and scatter pieces of cheese on just one half. Fold in half, overlapping the edge by about 1 inch. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat filling and folding the second piece of dough.
• Bake in the preheated oven until very well browned, 16 to 18 minutes. Some spots may get charred, but this is fine and desirable, since scacce are traditionally cooked in very hot wood-fired ovens. Let rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

STUFFED CALAMARI, SICILIAN STYLE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Clean the 12 large squid tubes; remove skin and cartilage inside the squid and rinse and clean. In a large pan saute onions in 2 tablespoons olive oil until soft. In a large bowl, combine the Sauteed onions, 1/2 cup of olive oil, garlic, 1 cup pecorino, 1/2 cup parsley, and the bread crumbs and mix well. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of oil to make the bread crumbs soft. Add the raisins last. Fill the squid tubes with the mixture and secure with a toothpick at the top opening. Lay the tubes in a baking pan with a little oil in the bottom of the pan, and bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove from oven and top with tomato sauce. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of pecorino and an additional 1/4 cup of parsley. Put pan back in the oven and bake until the cheese is melted, 10 to 15 minutes.
• In a large frying pan, mix crushed tomatoes, garlic, basil, salt, pepper and sugar. Cook for 5 minutes and set aside.

SICILIAN STUFFED TOMATOES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Oil a baking dish large enough to accommodate all of the tomatoes. Cut off the top fourth of the tomatoes, and reserve the tops. Place a strainer over a bowl, and gently scoop or squeeze out the seeds without breaking the tomatoes. Rub the seed pockets against the strainer to extract juice. Discard the seeds. Using a grapefruit spoon, scoop out as much of the tomato pulp from inside the skins as you can, but don't break the skins. Chop the pulp, and set aside.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat in a medium skillet. Add the onion. Cook 5 to 8 minutes, stirring often, until tender and beginning to color. Add the garlic. Stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the anchovies, parsley, capers, olives, bread crumbs and tomato pulp. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and stir for about two minutes until fragrant and well amalgamated. Moisten as desired with the strained juice. Fill the tomatoes with this mixture and place them in the baking dish. Return the tops. Brush with the remaining olive oil.
• Place in the oven, and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until the skins begin to wrinkle. The tomatoes should be soft but not mushy. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

STUFFED SICILIAN EGGPLANT RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• Cut each eggplant in half. Once halved, carefully hollow out each eggplant by slicing the interior flesh of the eggplant into medium-sized cubes.
• Once cubed, use a spoon to gently remove each cube - then use the spoon to hollow out the remainder of the eggplant. (Tip: Ensure you hollow out the interior of each eggplant, without slicing off the top or bottom of the eggplant itself. You essentially want to make a boat out of your eggplant).
• Place the removed flesh of the eggplant into a food processor. Then, add each ingredient into the food processor with the removed eggplant flesh.
• Process all ingredients into a stuffing consistency, which generally requires about 5-8 medium/long pulses (make sure you still have texture: don't process into a paste).
• Add 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil to a cast-iron skillet or frying span. Heat on medium and add the stuffing from the food processor to the pan.
• Spoon the stuffing you've made in the food processor into the frying pan and saute on a medium-low flame for approximately 8-10 minutes. Once this is done cooking, allow to cool for 10 minutes.
• Place your hollowed out eggplant onto a baking sheet that has been lightly greased with extra virgin olive oil. Brush the eggplant with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
• Once seasoned, spoon the finished stuffing into each eggplant, until full but not overflowing. Top each eggplant with shredded mozzarella and 2 tbsp of marinara sauce.
• Next, add 2 heaping tablespoons of chicken stock and 2 heaping tbsp of Pinot Grigio to the base of the pan, underneath each eggplant.
• Place into a 425 °F for 25-30 Minutes or until the eggplants have cooked down and develop a well-roasted skin.
• When nearly finished, place the eggplants under a low broiler for 10 minutes, until golden-brown and bubbly.
• Garnish with a little more fresh basil, parsley and grated Parmesan cheese and serve.
• Enjoy!

ITALIAN STUFFED BREAD

Steps:

• Place dough in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Roll dough into a 17x20-inch rectangle about 1/4-inch thick on a large piece of parchment paper. Brush olive oil over dough; sprinkle basil and oregano on top. Layer mortadella, provolone cheese, capicola ham, Genoa salami, tomatoes, and mushrooms over dough.
• Roll dough lengthwise into a log. Brush the top with beaten egg; sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Transfer to a baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until puffy, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 45 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before slicing.

BRENDA'S REAL SICILIAN STUFFED BELL PEPPERS

Steps:

• Wash and slice off the top of the peppers, making a cap. Reserve tops. Remove internal membranes and seeds.
• Place peppers, open side up in medium roaster or deep baking dish. There must be room for the rest of the ingredients.
• Blend gently with a fork, meat, egg, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, green onions, 1/2 of the salt and 1/2 of the pepper or to taste.
• In bottom of pepper, place a piece of mozzarella and a few pieces of onion.
• Stuff the peppers with meat mixture and replace cap on each.
• Note: if you have extra meat you can roll them into little meat balls to place on top of peppers.
• Sprinkle the rest of the onion, potatoes, garlic, olives, mushrooms, on top of peppers. (also extra meatballs if you have any.).
• Spoon tomatoes, with thier juice, over it all.
• Season top with basil and remaining salt and pepper or to taste.
• Cover and place in 350 F oven for 45 minutes.
• Uncover and bake for another 45 minutes, keeping an eye on the liquid. You may have to add a little water if it appears to be too dry.
• Try to move the veggies away from the edges once in a while so that they don't stick to the sides.
• Plate and serve with a crusty bread.

STUFFED ITALIAN BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Mix melted butter, parsley, olive oil, and garlic together in a bowl.
• Slice bread diagonally without cutting all the way through; do the same on the opposite diagonal to create cube-shaped sections still attached to the bottom crust.
• Spoon butter mixture carefully between sections; stuff in shredded Italian cheese blend. Wrap loaf in aluminum foil.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes; unwrap and bake until cheese is melted, about 10 minutes more.

ITALIAN STUFFED BREAD

Steps:

• Thaw out bread dough.
• Dice a green pepper and onion (I make my pieces very small).
• Roll out dough on a floured surface.
• (your dough should be just wide enough to put your meats on) Stack the dough with a layer of each meat, cheese, and vegetable.
• bring edges of dough together.
• Using a little water will help the dough stick together.
• Be sure you leave no cracks in the dough, or your cheese will run out when cooking.
• Bake at 350 until golden brown (usually about 20-26 minutes depending on your oven and thickness of dough).
• enjoy!

SICILIAN OVERSTUFFED SANDWICH WEDGES

Steps:

• Cut loaf of bread in half; hollow out top and bottom, leaving a 3/4-in. shell (discard removed bread or save for another use). , In a small bowl, combine the olives, parsley, oil, oregano, vinegar, garlic, pepper and pepper flakes. Spoon half into bread shell. Layer with pepperoncini, salami, cheese, roasted peppers, pepperoni and remaining olive mixture. Replace bread top. , Wrap in plastic; refrigerate for 2-3 hours or overnight. Cut into eight wedges.

STUFFED SQUID SICILIAN-STYLE

Steps:

• Make the filling: Blanch the chard in boiling water for 1 minute, then drain and cool under running water. Squeeze chard completely dry and finely chop. Set aside.
• Put 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet or wide saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and fennel, season with salt and pepper, and cook until softened and lightly colored, about 10 minutes.
• Add fennel fronds, fennel seed, anchovy, garlic, oregano and red pepper. Cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes more.
• Turn off heat and transfer mixture to a mixing bowl. Add pine nuts, lemon zest, bread crumbs, cheese and reserved cooked chard. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Taste and correct seasoning.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Using a teaspoon, put some filling in each squid body, taking care not to overstuff. Place stuffed squid in an earthenware baking dish in one layer. Season squid on both sides with salt and pepper and drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season tentacles with salt and pepper and arrange them around the edge of dish (alternatively, arrange tentacles in a separate baking dish). Drizzle tentacles lightly with oil. Spoon any remaining stuffing over tentacles.
• Roast uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes, until squid bodies are puffed, sizzling and lightly browned. If desired, run pan under the broiler for more color. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with lemon wedges. (May also be served at room temperature.) Serve each person 3 or 4 squid, with tentacles.